KBC Group NV Sells 17,905 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 12.8% in the first quarter, selling 17,905 shares and leaving it with 122,352 shares valued at about $8.9 million.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on WMB, with multiple firms reiterating buy ratings and an average price target of $83.56, above the stock’s recent price near $74.50.
• Williams posted solid earnings and pays a dividend, beating EPS estimates in its latest quarter and recently paying a $0.525 quarterly dividend, implying a 2.8% annual yield.

KBC Group NV decreased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,352 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,905 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $83.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $74.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57. The business's 50 day moving average is $74.31 and its 200-day moving average is $71.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Williams Companies Profile

Williams Companies, Inc NYSE: WMB is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.

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